Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to folding travel support system and method for using the same. More particularly, the invention provides for the support of an electronic device, such as a cell phone or a GPS unit, to be supported on a dashboard or other surface, and has the property of being able to be folded substantially flat for storage or transport in a brief case, or jacket pocket when not in use. Further, it can adapt stability to curved surfaces, such as are found on dashboards, and remain upright during normal driving maneuvers.
Description of the Related Art
Cell phones and built-for-purpose GPS computers have been used in moving vehicles for many years. A small industry has developed that is devoted to providing drivers with a mechanism to mount these devices into various surfaces or other elements of the vehicle so that the screen is easily visible to the driver. These have all involved mechanisms that are too bulky to easily fit into a jacket pocket or a briefcase, when not in use. This feature of folding essentially flat is important to people who regularly require the item to be moved from vehicle to vehicle, or who wish to mount the phone in alternate locations, such as nightstands for use as an alarm clock, or on a desk for use as a speaker phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,692,659 is typical. It features a large mechanism that hangs the phone assembly from the windshield mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,530 contains a flexible member provided by a bag of small balls, which prevents the unit from packing substantially flat. In addition, the item requires a complex mechanism to be attached to both the assembly of bags and the phone.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,407,143 shows a clamping mechanism that is attached fixed to an element that must be installed on the car.
Chinese patent, KR470742(Y1) can be manufactured from a single sheet of material, and folded into a stand but provides no side supports, nor any mechanism to prevent the stand from sliding on its supporting surface, so that when cornering or accelerating or stopping in a vehicle the phone would be thrown from the stand. Chinese patents KR472787(Y1) and KR1272750(B1) suffer from similar limitations as does British patent GB248664.
The summarized art does not provide the combination of lateral and axial stability required for normal maneuvering in a vehicle, with the ability to fold substantially flat when not in use that would be required to be practical for a traveler, or requires modifications or attachments to the vehicle or other surface on which the device may be deployed.